The difference between what a consumer is willing to pay for a unit of a good and what must be paid when actually buying it is called

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The question asks for the term that describes the difference between what a consumer is willing to pay for a unit of a good and what must be paid when actually buying it.
Since the answer options are not provided in the data, I will focus on defining the concept and explaining why this term fits.
Consumer surplus is a key concept in consumer theory. It measures the net benefit to the consumer from participating in a market transaction: it equals the maximum price a consumer is willing to pay (their marginal willingness to pay) minus the actual price paid, for each unit purchased.
Intuitively, if you value a good at $15 but only pay $10, you gain a surplus of $5 on that unit. If your willingness to pay exceeds the market price for every unit you buy, you accumulate consumer surplus; if you buy at or above your willingness-to-pay, surplus would be zero or negative (in practice, purchases at or above willingness-to-pay do not occur in standard consumer theory because they are not rational below willingness-to-pay).
Other terms in some contexts may describe related ideas (such as producer surplus or total surplus), but the specific difference between willingness to pay and actual price paid by the consumer is defined as consumer surplus.
If there were options, we would evaluate each by checking whether it conveys this precise gap between willingness to pay and actual expenditure, and oppose any option that misframes the concept (for example confusing it with total expenditure, price paid per unit, or producer-side measures).

ECON 4001.01 SP2025 (19496) Week 3 quiz

The difference between what a consumer is willing to pay for a unit of a good and what must be paid when actually buying it is called

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